As the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela, the Weinstein Company offers the first posthumous big-screen tribute.

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How do you capture the life of a man whose name has become synonymous with words like unity, peace, and progress? Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, from the Weinstein Company, tries its hand at the seemingly impossible task, adapting Nelson Mandela's 650-page autobiography into a two-and-a-half hour feature film.

It succeeds not by capturing every detail, but instead by taking the time to unfurl a crucial detail—the complexity of its central figures. Mandela delves into the characters of Nelson and Winnie, the often-controversial activist who was his second wife, but avoids giving them the saint treatment. Mandela's heroism, in fact, is further underscored because of the film's willingness to show his flaws. Young Mandela struggled with impatience and infidelity--in showing those struggles, the film emphasizes the strength of character needed to endure the imprisonment that stole a quarter-century of his life away. Idris Elba, not the most obvious physical choice to play Madiba, is convincing in a performance that sees youthful swagger evolve into sturdiness and stoicism. Winnie is a co-headliner rather than a supporting player thanks to scene-stealing (and award buzz-worthy) performance from Naomie Harris.

It would be tough for any tribute to do Mandela justice, but the biopic commemorates him best with its imagery. A wide shot of Mandela walking the South African grasslands is the film's most regal moment, and perhaps not coincidentally, its most uncanny: Madiba himself reportedly saw the clip and asked, "Is that me?"

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is now showing in select theaters, with a wide release on December 25th.